


Love Dart

by Vulnerasti_Cor_Meum



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fuck Or Die, Internalized Victim Blaming, M/M, Sex Pollen, Sex Pollened Character(s)/Unaffected Character(s), Shame in Sexual Desires, Unrequited Lust, unwanted arousal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-20 22:27:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11344368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulnerasti_Cor_Meum/pseuds/Vulnerasti_Cor_Meum
Summary: Canon-divergent AU: After closing the Doors of Death and returning to the banks of the Acheron with the Athena Parthenos, Cupid comes to check in on Nico to see if he’s confessed his love to Percy yet. Of course he hasn’t, so Cupid decides to force his hand...





	Love Dart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cerberusia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerberusia/gifts).



> Hi Cerberusia! Your prompts were all so inspiring; it was hard to choose just one to fill! I hope I managed to do it justice. Happy nonconathon! :)

The night was peaceful. The rest of the group was sleeping in the grassy meadow just above the banks of the Acheron, Hazel and Frank snuggled up together, Jason and Piper not far off from them. Reyna was asleep to their left, and Leo was a little way off from her, closer to the camp fire they’d built. Annabeth and Percy were tangled together, too. Coach Hedge was supposed to have been keeping watch, but instead was zonked out by the camp fire now. That was all right—Nico couldn’t sleep anyway, even as exhausted as he was after helping to shadow-travel everyone out of the House of Hades. He kept his vigil up the hillside, in the shadows at the base of the Athena Parthenos.

No one was awake to see him studying Percy in the safety of darkness. It hurt to see how much of a toll Tartarus had taken on Percy, hurt more to see how very close he and Annabeth had become. Percy would never hold Nico like he was holding her, as though they shared one breath, one body. Nico watched the moonlight play over Percy’s dark curls, longing to _be_ that light touching him, and the hollow space in his chest ached.

“You haven’t made your feelings known yet, have you, Nico di Angelo?”

Nico’s head whipped around at the sound of that smooth, taunting voice. Cupid. He was behind Nico on the other side of the statue. Crossing his arms, Nico stepped around to face the god and saw him leaning nonchalantly against the base of the Athena Parthenos, his red eyes burning like hot embers in the darkness, his wings glowing ethereally in the soft moonlight.

“What are you doing here?” Nico hissed, glaring daggers at the god of love. He thought he’d left him well behind in Croatia. It was a shock to be face-to-face with him again. Though maybe he should have seen it coming, considering how weirdly preoccupied with Nico’s love life the guy was. “I have no business with you anymore.”

“Oh? You’re still hiding, though.” Cupid said, raising a finely-sculpted brow at him. “As long as you do, I have business with _you,_ Nico. I thought you might not have taken my little lesson to heart, so I’m here to give you another.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want it, so you can go--”

Cupid raised a hand and cut him off before he could get any further with that sentiment. “Now, don’t be angry; I’m only trying to help you. But perhaps you need a little more incentive to lay your heart bare…”

Before Nico knew what was happening, Cupid blurred in eerily fast motion, nocking and then smoothly shooting an arrow into Percy’s sleeping form. It dissolved into his arm and he groaned in his sleep. Nico barely had time to draw his sword with a gasp before Cupid was moving again, swiftly picking Percy up and depositing him right at Nico’s feet. Then he disappeared.

Percy shook his head like he was trying to clear it, and blinked blearily up at Nico. Instead of clearing, though, his sea-green eyes seemed to glaze further. “Oh, hey Nico,” he whispered, his voice oddly hoarse. “When did you get so freaking hot?”

Percy pulled Nico down until he was practically sitting in his lap, and before Nico had a chance to process that, he was being _kissed_ , hard and sloppy.

“Cupid! What did you do to him?” Nico pulled out of the kiss to gasp. His head was reeling and his heart was pounding. This was wrong; Percy wasn’t in his right mind. These devouring kisses were just—just—oh gods, so good. No! Wrong!

 _Won’t it be easier to confess your love if it’s reciprocated, even for one night? You ought to be thanking me._ The love god’s laughter seemed to surround him, coming from all directions at once. Capricious asshole. If he and Cupid weren’t enemies before, they sure as hell were now.

“Over my dead body,” Nico growled. Or tried to. It was kind of hard when Percy had his tongue shoved in his mouth all warm and wet, and his hands up Nico’s shirt sparking pleasure all up and down his spine. “Put him back to normal!”

Suddenly Cupid was beside him and Percy, whispering directly into Nico’s ear. Nico wished he could say he shivered in nothing but revulsion, but it’d be a lie. “I think you’ll find if you confess and act on your desires, the effects of my love dart will dissipate. But if you don’t? Well, the lust might kill him and it’ll be Percy’s dead body you’ll be cursing me over.”

Nico wanted to be sick. Nausea churned in his gut, at sharp odds with the shameful molten pleasure low in his belly. A hard, hot knot of anger was lodged in his chest—he was mad at Cupid, mad at himself, mad at the world. 

There was a smile in Cupid’s voice, even as the god disappeared into thin air again. _Now, then, shall I leave you to it?_

“Nico, please,” Percy moaned, kissing down Nico’s throat now, his hands moving down to grasp Nico’s ass through his jeans. “I don’t care about that weird winged guy. I want you.”

 _Yeah, right now you do,_ Nico thought darkly. _And when this is over, you’ll hate me more than you ever have._ The worst part was Nico couldn’t even blame him. He’d hate him too, in Percy’s shoes. Already did, in fact. Really, nobody hated Nico di Angelo more than Nico di Angelo himself, especially in this moment.

“Percy. Wait!” Nico cried, pushing Percy off him, despite the fact that he was already humiliatingly hard. He had to at least try to snap Percy out of it. His guilt wouldn’t allow him to do anything else. “What about Annabeth?”

Nico’s heart gave a painful lurch at the thought of her finding out about all this. _She’s going to kill me_ , he thought. And he wouldn’t even fight her. 

Apparently Annabeth’s name had some effect on Percy as well. His eyes seemed to clear for a moment, confusion and recognition sparking in them. But then the haze of lust clouded them again. “Who?”

Nico blinked, blindsided. “What do you mean, who?” he said, his voice rising in panic. Percy ignored his outburst and started to go in for another sloppy kiss. It took effort to hold him back, but Nico did his best, holding him by the shoulders to keep him off for just one more minute. He shook Percy, trying to get through to him. “ _Annabeth_ , your girlfriend, the one you literally jumped into Tartarus for! _She’s_ the one you want, not me.”

“Mmh, want you, Nico,” Percy murmured, completely disregarding every other word Nico had spoken. “So bad it hurts.”

Gritting his teeth, Nico rolled his eyes skyward and looked up at the stars instead of into Percy’s too-eager face. How many times had his traitorous mind imagined those words, or something very like them, coming from Percy’s mouth? Too many times to count. 

He didn’t want to hear them like _this_ , though. Not with Percy so far out of his mind he couldn’t even remember who Annabeth was. In his head, it’d always been because Percy _chose_ him over her, or because she’d made the dumb choice to dump Percy and Nico was right there to pick up the pieces. He knew neither of those things would ever happen, first of all because Percy’s whole world practically revolved around Annabeth, and second of all because she was way to smart to ever let Percy go. And then lastly, but far from least, was the fact that Nico knew he’d messed things up with Percy far too many times for him to ever _like_ him, let alone love him. Frankly, Nico didn’t know why Percy kept on saving his life when he clearly didn’t deserve that kind of consideration from him.

Now it looked like he’d have to return the favor (oh, and add another tally to the list of terrible circumstances he was responsible for getting Percy into; couldn’t forget that).

“Come on, Nico, _please_ ,” Percy begged, finally overpowering Nico and pushing him up against the hard marble at his back. He rocked his hips into Nico’s and made Nico gasp at the feel of his very solid and very real erection pressing into his thigh through their jeans. “I gotta—ahh, fuck, I need you!”

Nico swallowed down against the hysterical laughter bubbling up in his throat. Save your crush’s life by having sex with him! Make all your desperate and most shameful fantasies come true! Gods, but if he could solve this problem by disappearing into the ground and never ever coming back out of the Underworld again, Nico would.

Instead, he took a shaky breath. “I...” The words stuck in his throat. With effort, Nico forced them out. “All right. Um. Okay.”

Smooth, Nico. Real smooth. Way to let Percy know you want him like _burning_ , too. Desperate as the situation was, he still couldn’t just open up and admit how badly he’d wanted this (even if _not at all_ this way). The fact that he’d never intended to ever act on his shameful desires wasn’t helping either—Nico had no clue where to even start with all this.

“Uh, whatever you want is—is fine,” Nico finished lamely.

“Just touch me,” Percy whined, his lips brushing against the side of Nico’s neck before sucking down on the sensitive skin. “Less clothes. That would be a good start.”

Nico shivered, though certainly not from cold. His whole body felt too hot, his nerves all alight like Percy was a son of Zeus instead of Poseidon, causing sparks to shoot through Nico wherever he touched. He felt his face flush, absolutely mortified to be doing this out in the open, even if they _were_ on the other side of the giant statue from the rest of the gang, and far enough away that no one should hear them and come looking. 

Hopefully.

And Nico couldn’t deny that he wanted to see Percy unclothed. “You first,” he said, guilt twisting at his insides.

Percy wasted no time in peeling his shirt off and then frantically shucking off his pants and boxers. Nico’s mouth went dry. Oh gods, Percy was even hotter than he’d imagined. Tartarus hadn’t been kind to him, sure, but even after all he’d gone through there he was still all lean, sculpted muscle and warmly tanned skin. Even his cock was gorgeous, jutting proudly between his legs with a pearly bead of pre-come shining at its tip in the moonlight. In comparison, Nico knew he was severely lacking—beneath his loose-fitting black t-shirt and jeans he was emaciated and bony, his own muscles taut but nowhere near as defined, his skin sallow and deathly pale.

“Now you. Please, Nico, I want to _feel_ you,” Percy said, his voice husky and urgent. He leaned down again and made a grab for the hem of Nico’s shirt to lift it up.

Nico didn’t protest, allowing Percy to roughly tug his shirt off his thin torso. He looked away to examine the soft grass they were sitting on, afraid of seeing just how disappointed in him Percy was. Who wanted to get blinded by their partner’s pallidness? Who’d really like feeling every rib beneath their hands?

“Gods, you’re hot.”

That snapped Nico’s eyes back to Percy. He glared warily, but before he could protest that Percy was drugged up by Cupid, Percy lowered his lips to Nico’s chest and licked at a nipple. All rational thought fled Nico’s mind. He gasped and arched his back into Percy’s touch, his eyes fluttering shut.

Percy licked his way down the flat planes of Nico’s chest and belly, getting dangerously close to the waistband of his pants. Nico’s breath was coming fast, his heart practically pounding out of his ribcage. 

Was he really going to let Percy do this to him? Nico wasn’t positive, but he was fairly sure Percy had never so much as thought about putting another guy’s dick in his mouth before now. Shame flooded his face red—the same couldn’t be said of Nico himself. Having Percy suck him off was a fantasy he’d had many times, but he’d also imagined doing the same for Percy a damn lot too. Would it be better if Nico was the one to do it instead? It wasn’t any less gay, but he thought maybe Percy would be less disgusted with him afterward if Percy was the one getting sucked instead of doing the sucking.

“Wait,” Nico gasped, his hands flying to stop Percy from undoing his pants and freeing his aching erection yet. “Let me.”

Percy looked up at him with a lust-dazed expression, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “What?” 

Nico felt his cock twitch. Percy wasn’t making this easy. Still, he put his palms to Percy’s shoulders and pushed him upright. In answer to Percy’s question, Nico spread Percy’s legs with trembling hands and lowered his head until he was face-to-face with his throbbing dick.

It was the first dick Nico had ever seen besides his own. He couldn’t hide the hunger in his eyes as he looked it over, licking his lips distractedly. Percy’s cock was bigger than his, long and fairly thick, with a nice vein throbbing visibly up the right side of it. This close he could smell it—musky and heady and _oh gods_ he wanted it. He shouldn’t; hated that he couldn’t just do this clinically and businesslike, purely altruistically to save Percy’s life. He _wanted_ too much.

Percy’s hands wound in Nico’s hair as Nico finally gave in and licked a salty pearl of pre-come off the head of his cock. Hesitantly, Nico looked up. Percy was biting his lip, the corners of his mouth twitching up in satisfaction. “Good. Don’t stop, Nico.”

Nico moaned. He couldn’t help it; hearing his love praise him so made him feel something dangerously close to happiness bloom in his chest, warm and bright. He closed his eyes against the heat prickling them. Whatever else happened, he wasn’t going to let Percy see him cry.

He threw himself into his task, trying to push all his complicated feelings down, drowning them out in pure sensation. The feel of Percy’s shaft in his mouth, hot and slick and velvety soft, filling him to choking; the taste of it salty and tangy and rich. He took direction from Percy’s fingers tangled in his hair, sucking harder when he felt a yank, licking the underside up to the head and over the slit again and again when Percy groaned and petted him shakily, taking him deep as he could when Percy began to thrust shallowly into his throat and grip his hair tight. It was so good and so wrong and so _fucking hot_. Nico had never been so hard in his life, and no one had even so much as touched his dick yet.

“Oh, fuck, Nico, I’m--!” Percy keened, as Nico sucked him deeply and fondled his tightening balls. He couldn’t even finish getting the words out before he was shooting down Nico’s throat, his cock pulsing in thick spurts.

Nico tried to swallow it all, but it was hard and he found himself overwhelmed, come spilling out of his mouth as he gagged and choked. Ultimately, he had to spit most of it into the grass.

Percy didn’t seem the least bit fussed about that, stroking Nico’s hair with a shaky hand as he told him how awesome he was. “That thing you did with your tongue was amazing! Just wow.”

Nico coughed and took a few long, shuddering breaths, trying to compose himself. He—gods, he’d really just _blown_ Percy Jackson. Under different circumstances, it would have left him feeling elated. Instead, he mostly felt dirty and traitorous and ashamed of how badly turned on he still was.

“Can we do that again?” Percy was babbling still, though his touches were becoming less soothing and more provocative. His hands were roaming Nico’s body, tracing the knobs of his spine, squeezing at his ass. “Now?”

Ice water trickled down Nico’s spine at the dawning realization that just a blowjob hadn’t worked. Percy was still lust-addled. A quick glance confirmed he was hard again. Nico wanted to scream, he was so angry and so scared. What would it take? What the hell did Cupid want from him? He had a sinking suspicion this would only end if he managed to give in _all the way_ and make it explicitly clear to Percy just how depraved he really was. “I—I can’t.”

Nico rested his head on Percy’s shoulder and breathed until he was no longer in danger of splitting the earth around them to swallow him whole. The grass around them turned brown and withered, but he managed not to do anything drastic. This time, he didn’t protest this time when Percy went for his pants. 

“Let me make you feel good, then,” Percy was saying. He eased Nico’s pants off him and his hand went straight for Nico’s cock. “What do you want? Tell me what you want, Nico.”

Swallowing a moan, Nico grit his teeth. His toes curled as he tried to focus on something other than _Percy’s hand on his cock_ , stroking him roughly but not so much it hurt, kind of clumsy really, but so _eager_. It was better than he’d ever imagined, and somehow even though Percy was out of his head his actions were so _him_.

Those words, though. Nico heard Cupid in them. 

And then he really did hear Cupid’s voice, soft as a summer breeze. _Tell him what you want, Nico. Stop being a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Face him, face me, and bare your heart. Only then can you heal both yourself and Percy._

Then Percy’s free hand was under his chin, lifting it up so he could kiss Nico while he stroked him off. It was a surprisingly tender kiss, far more than he deserved. The ache in Nico’s chest worsened. His trembling hands found their way into Percy’s sweat-dampened curls, and he pulled Percy closer despite himself.

He wanted… he wanted… this. More than this.

“Ah… Percy?” Nico whispered, breaking the kiss. His eyes darted to Percy’s, then away, then back again. He could do this. For Percy. He _had_ to. Even if it might break him. 

In a voice fragile and brittle like shattered glass, Nico said, “I h-have feelings for you. And I want—I want you to be my first.”

He looked away, mortified, the patch of dead grass around them spreading, uncomfortably crunchy beneath his bare knees and shins.

 _That’s it. And lucky you; you’re about to get your wish. Not many do._ Cupid’s voice came again, fading as though he were walking away.

Good riddance. The very last thing Nico wanted was an audience while he took advantage of his poisoned crush.

Percy caressed his cheek and kissed him one more time. “Cool. I can do that.”

 _Cool._ Nico almost wanted to laugh. That was about the last reaction he’d expected to that confession. At least it wasn’t outright revulsion. Yet.

Nico shut his eyes as Percy laid him down on the grass, the dried blades prickling at his skin. He couldn’t even care about that slight discomfort, not when Percy was feeling him up all over, thumbing at his nipples, smoothing down his sides, caressing his hips… parting his legs. Nico felt exposed right to his core, not only because Percy was staring at every last inch of him and _oh fuck, fingering his hole_ , but also because it had to be so obvious how very desperately the thought of having Percy inside him was turning him on. His cock was so hard it hurt, throbbing against his belly with every beat of his heart.

It wasn’t normal to feel that way. Nico knew it. It was just another trait to add to the long list of things that made him a freak and an outcast. And only because he was love-drugged was Percy not pushing him away in disgust.

“Hey,” Percy said, so gently it made his heart clench. “Relax. I’ve got you.”

Nico’s eyes fluttered open to find Percy smiling down at him, like he’d look at his lover. Tears began to sting at Nico’s eyes and he blinked rapidly to force them back. Not trusting his voice, he nodded jerkily.

Then Percy was pushing into Nico, and suddenly nothing else mattered. It hurt, Nico couldn’t deny it, but if anything Nico welcomed the pain. He deserved it and more. But Percy went slow, letting Nico’s tense body relax and adjust around his girth before pushing further in. By the time his balls were flush with Nico’s ass, both Percy and Nico were panting. Somewhere along the way the burning stretch had turned into molten pleasure, and Nico was shaking with it. He arched his back and moved his hips, and Percy took the hint. He started thrusting, shallowly at first, then harder, faster. Nico moaned, overcome by how incredibly good it felt. _Gods,_ he was so _full_.

Percy was within him, holding him and moving inside him, closer than than he had ever allowed anyone else to get, making him _feel_ more than he ever had in his life. It was too much.

Nico threw an arm over his face as his thready gasping moans turned into needy sobs. It was too good; he didn’t deserve this. He loved it, and he _hated_ himself for loving it, for loving Percy, for making him do this, for doing this to him.

His orgasm overtook him without warning, the tension and pleasure rising to a peak so fast all Nico could do was cry out as he came so hard it seemed the stars in the sky were exploding in his vision. Percy followed after a few more erratic thrusts, spilling hotly into him.

Bonelessly, Percy collapsed on top of Nico. Both were breathing hard, their skin sweat-sticky in the warm summer evening air.

“Mmh, that was so good,” Percy muttered, lazily stroking Nico’s side.

 _Fuck_ , was he still affected by Cupid’s awful love dart? Panic flared in Nico’s gut, snapping him out of any post-coital haze he might have been feeling. Hastily, Nico scrubbed at his face to wipe away his tears, then turned his head to chance a glance at Percy—

The dopey grin on his face made Nico’s heart flutter, but his eyes seemed clearer, somehow.

“You all right? I wasn’t too rough with you, was I?” Percy asked. He reached out to tuck a damp lock of hair behind Nico’s ear.

Nico flinched. “I—no. You didn’t hurt me. I’m fine.”

All right, that last part was a lie, and the look Percy was giving him told him he wasn’t buying it. But, well. What was he supposed to say? ‘That was amazing and I’m a terrible person for thinking so. I might be having an emotional breakdown over it.’ Not exactly the best pillow talk.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Percy was much for pillow talk either. He didn’t press Nico about his words not matching how he looked, just pressed some stupidly soft kisses to Nico’s temple and jaw. When Nico didn’t say anything more, he promptly fell asleep on him.

Good. Hopefully that meant he could sleep off the rest of the poison.

With the very last of his remaining energy, Nico shoved Percy off of him, got them both cleaned up and clothed again—which wasn’t easy, given how dead asleep and _heavy_ Percy was—and then shadow-traveled them the short distance back to where everyone else was still sleeping soundly. Guilt heavy in his chest, Nico laid Percy out next to Annabeth. She smiled like she was having a pleasant dream for once and curled closer to Percy.

Nico tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat. It was over.

If he hadn’t promised to help get the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half Blood, he’d disappear and never show his face to any of these people ever again, least of all Percy. Maybe if he woke Reyna and Coach Hedge early enough, he could convince them to leave without saying goodbye to the rest of the group.

Exhausted, wrung out both physically and emotionally, Nico dragged himself back up the hill to wait for dawn. Collapsing against the cold stone, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

 

“Hey. Nico, wake up. It’s time to go.”

Nico woke with a start, blinking in the bright morning light… right up into Percy Jackson’s face. He stiffened and tried to draw away, but his back was literally against a wall. There was nowhere to go.

“Sorry; I know you’ve gotta be worn out. I’m sure feeling it, too.” He smiled a little ruefully, offering his hand to help pull Nico to his feet.

Ignoring it, Nico pushed himself up. He glared sullenly at Percy, wishing he could tell him to fuck off without sounding like a complete jerk. Why the hell was Percy being so friendly to him still? Did he even remember what had happened?

“Thanks,” Nico bit out. “I’m up now, so you don’t have to stick around.”

Percy looked at his sneakers, then back up at Nico. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Alone.”

Nico’s heart plummeted. _Here it comes_ , he thought. He steeled himself, willing his legs not to tremble. The grass around him began to yellow.

Before Nico could decide to bolt instead of facing Percy’s recrimination, Percy licked his lips and spoke. “Last night… it wasn’t a dream, was it?”

The muscles in Nico’s jaw twitched. “No.” He swallowed thickly. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I hate myself for bringing that on you, for forcing you to—to—” 

_To fuck me against your will_. The words wouldn’t even come out.

“Hey, no! If anyone was forcing anything, it was that creepy winged guy. Cupid? That guy’s a jerk.” Weakly, Percy smiled. “Don’t go blaming yourself. I mean, I’m sorry too. I didn’t know you, uh, felt that way about me.”

Percy was blushing bright red now, and Nico was sure he was doing the same. His face felt like it was on fire. 

“Trust me, if I could stop feeling like this, I would,” Nico grit out. He folded his arms around himself, shrinking back against the side of the statue’s base. If he could stop feeling _at all_ , he would. As it was, humiliation and guilt and a stupid desperate need for approval were smothering him from the inside. “Don’t worry, after today, you won’t have to ever think about me again. Once I get this statue to camp, that’s it. I’m not coming back.”

Suddenly, Percy was gripping his arm; the fingers clasped around his bicep felt like a brand on Nico’s skin. “Wait, what? Now I _am_ worried. Nico, please. Believe me when I say I don’t want that. I don’t care if you like dudes, and I’m sorry I can’t be the guy for you. But. Can’t we still be friends?”

For a long moment, Nico just stared at Percy, eyes darting, mouth set in a firm line. 

He meant it. Nico could see it in his eyes. He really still wanted to be friends with Nico, even after finding out what a freak he was, even after being forced to have sexual relations with him. Nico had no idea why Percy didn’t hate him, let alone wanted to be _friends_. 

Chewing on his lip, Nico looked away. Slowly, he nodded. “Yeah. I guess that’s fine. We can be friends. I’m not making any other promises, though.”

Percy beamed like Nico had just given him the best and bluest birthday present. Taking his hand from Nico’s arm, he gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder instead. “Great! Awesome! I’ll see you around then. Good luck on your half of the mission, Nico.”

Nico stood there, blinking bewilderdly after Percy. That hadn’t gone anywhere near as terribly as he’d thought it would, or as terribly as it really _should_ have gone. 

Mind reeling, he busied himself with preparing to leave. If he could have, Nico would have avoided saying goodbye to anyone else, but Coach Hedge insisted on a big formal group farewell. (He’d wanted horns and party crackers and other loud and explosive send-offs, but luckily had been vetoed in that.) Nico hugged Hazel, and said a polite goodbye to Frank and Piper and Leo. He was surprised when Jason pulled him into a brief but tight hug as well. Percy went for what should have been an awkward high-five that ended up somehow charming instead. 

...Nico wouldn’t meet Annabeth’s eyes. He gasped as she unexpectedly leaned in to place a chaste kiss on his cheek. Too low for anyone else to hear, she whispered, “Percy told me what happened. I don’t blame you for it.”

Too shocked to process that, it took Reyna tugging at his elbow to get Nico’s attention.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“...Yeah. I think I am.” Ready for the task at hand. Ready to face another day. For the first time in his life, ready to find out what the future could hold without fear and anguish holding him back.

 _No thanks to Cupid,_ he thought bitterly. It was all thanks to Percy and Annabeth for being good people, and, Nico finally admitted—good friends. If they could forgive him, maybe he could start to forgive himself.


End file.
